Swiss Parliament: Bitcoin Should Be Treated as a Foreign Currency

While bitcoin has had the history of being seen as a voucher in the United Kingdom and a hobby in places like China, Switzerland is taking a much difference approach. Forty-five members of the Swiss parliament have agreed to sign a postulate that considers bitcoin a foreign currency (that effectively puts the cryptocurrency in the same boat as the United States dollar or the Chinese yuan).

This postulate is also the beginning of research into what kinds of opportunities bitcoin can hold for Swiss finance. According to this post on Bitcointalk, “The next formal step is for the Swiss parliament to have a vote on the postulate (can take many weeks). If it passes (which is very likely as about 25% of the parliament already co-signed it), the Federal Council will answer the questions, which again can take many months. And then, if the Federal Council agrees, it would again take a while to adjust the relevant regulations. So it will take time until it becomes effective, but it already today sends a nice signal of how regulatory bodies should treat Bitcoin when the law is unspecific.”

This could be a very important step in the story that is bitcoin. Without worldwide acceptance, the currency will never see the light of day in the mainstream. (via Reddit)